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April 09, 2008
Data from 2006 indicate thousands of children abused, neglected early in life
The CBS Evening News (4/3, story 5, 2:10, Couric) reported that according to a study published in the Apr. 4 issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, "more than 91,000" children were "abused or neglected" in 2006. Now, "for the first time, we're learning just how often it happens to the tiniest victims, infants, some of them only days old."
The Washington Post (4/4, A2, Stein) reports that the study represents "the first national estimate of abuse of the nation's youngest, most vulnerable children, prepared by federal officials on the basis of cases substantiated by state and local children's protective services agencies."
In order to conduct this study, federal researchers "examined data collected in fiscal 2006 from 44 states plus the District through the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, which compiles reports from child protective service agencies." The data indicated that "905,000 children younger than 18 were reported to have been abused that year, including 91,278 who had not yet reached their first birthday." This equates to "a rate of more than 23 mistreated babies in every 1,000 of the nearly four million infants during the period studied." And, among "the children abused in their first year, more than 84 percent -- 35,455 -- were less than a month old."
Related Links:
- "1 In 50 Babies Victims Of Abuse Or Neglect," AP/includes video report by Sandra Hughes, CBS News, April 3, 2008.
- "Report Cites Abuse of 91,000 Babies Under 1," Rob Stein, The Washington Post, April 4, 2008.
- CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
Posted by admin at April 9, 2008 04:16 PM